Klimuk, Petr Ilich

Born June 10, 1942, in the village of Komarovka, Brest Raion, Brest Oblast. Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR; major general of aviation (1978). Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1973 and 1975). Member of the CPSU since 1963.

Klimuk graduated from the Chernigov Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots in 1964 and began serving in the air force. He was named a cosmonaut in 1965.

From Dec. 18 to Dec. 26, 1973, flying with V. V. Lebedev, Klimuk was commander of the Soyuz 13 spacecraft. The flight lasted 7 days 20 hr 55 min. From May 24 to July 26, 1975, flying with V. I. Sevast’ianov, Klimuk was commander of the Soyuz 18 spacecraft. During the mission, which lasted approximately 63 days, Klimuk and Sevast’ianov visited the Salyut 4 orbiting station. From June 27 to July 5, 1978, Klimuk flew with M. Her-maszewski aboard Soyuz 30. They visited the Salyut 6 orbiting station, which was being manned by V. V. Kovalenok and A. S. Ivanchenkov and which was docked with Soyuz 29. Klimuk’s flight time was 7 days 21 hr 5 min.

Klimuk received the State Prize of the USSR in 1978 and has been awarded three Orders of Lenin and various medals.